Hurricanes thrashed in second period

Atlanta scores four goals on nine shots in middle of the game to put away Carolina

RALEIGH -- As the public address announcer at the RBC Center solemnly intoned, "One minute left in the third period," a few feeble -- and decidedly sarcastic -- cheers came from the stands.

It's just that the Carolina Hurricanes didn't give their fans much to get excited about Sunday against the Atlanta Thrashers. While the Canes did take the lead twice, the Thrashers used four second-period goals to roll to an easy 5-2 victory.

When Ray Whitney came flying in on Atlanta goalie Johan Hedberg and scored early in the second period, the Hurricanes had a 2-1 lead. But that would be the last good moment for the Canes as Ron Hainsey, Jason Williams and Ilya Kovalchuk banged in goals for the Thrashers before the period ended.

Atlanta had been outscored 25-9 in the second period this season before Sunday and was 1-5-1 in games when its opponent scored first. None of that mattered as the Thrashers won their fourth straight game and second straight on the road.

"This was a tough one to read," the Canes' Eric Staal said. "I don't know how to say it. We weren't good enough, that's pretty much it.

"I don't think we did a good enough job on our end eliminating some chances in front of the net. And then the chances we had, we just didn't get in front of Hedberg enough or capitalize on those rebounds that were kind of popping out in the slot.

"We weren't good enough."

Carolina coach Peter Laviolette, whose team was playing its third game in four days, said the Canes were sluggish in the offensive zone. Carolina (8-5-2) had 37 shots, but Hedberg was solid enough in net and Atlanta active defensively, time and again taking away the Canes' time and space.

Canes goalie Cam Ward faced just 22 shots, but the Thrashers (6-7-2) scored on four of nine shots in the second period. Williams scored what proved to be the winner at 15:02 of the second on the only power-play goal of the game.

"I don't think they had a whole lot of chances," Laviolette said. "The ones that they had, they put 'em in the back of the net."

After a scoreless first period, the Hurricanes' Rod Brind'Amour picked up his first goal in eight games on a nice feed from Sergei Samsonov -- Brind'Amour backhanding the puck below Hedberg's pads for a 1-0 lead. After Marty Reasoner tied it for Atlanta, Whitney took a pass from Tuomo Ruutu and fired a shot past Hedberg at 5:50 of the second.

"We came out and took the lead," Brind'Amour said. "There are points in a game where you've just kind of got to bear down."

Instead, the Thrashers took charge. Hainsey scored on a blast from the point. Williams converted on the power play, and Kovalchuk scored an easy goal when he was alone at the right post and took a crisp pass from Williams.

Reasoner added an early third-period goal for Atlanta, and there would be no comeback by the Canes. Carolina was 0-for-4 on the power play in the game against a team that was 29th on the penalty kill.

While the players didn't want to dwell on it, fatigue may have been a factor in the Canes' listless effort. Laviolette gave his top four defensemen a lot of work and stuck with three lines most of the game as the Hurricanes again played without injured center Matt Cullen and forward Patrick Eaves.

"I think we're in good shape," Staal said of the Canes' conditioning. "It was just one of those games where we didn't initiate enough.

"I thought we were a step behind a little too much. When that happens, you're not going to create as much and the bounces usually don't go your way."

The Canes have two days before another matchup with the Washington Capitals on Wednesday at the RBC Center. Then, it's off to Atlanta on Friday to face the Thrashers again.

"I think everybody in our locker room is thinking about the same thing," Ruutu said. "We play one good period and then the other one is totally opposite. It shouldn't be like that.

"Today we were up 2-1 and thought we had the game. But there was still half the game left, and they played harder."